How Accurate is the AncestryDNA Test? Can You Trust the Results? Get the Scoop in this AncestryDNA Review!
You may have recently seen one of the popular commercials for AncestryDNA genetic ancestry testing. Like the guy that traded in his lederhosen for a kilt, after finding he was more Scottish than German. Did it make you wonder about your own heritage?
That’s the draw of the AncestryDNA test. It seems so easy to do and you can learn so much about your history from one little test. But is AncestryDNA testing accurate? And do they keep your data in a huge DNA database somewhere after you use it?
These are questions that many people wonder about when they’re thinking of trying DNA testing for ethnicity.
While receiving AncestryDNA results that tell you exactly where your roots are from can be fulfilling, some wonder, “Is AncestryDNA a scam?” or whether it’s just another sales tool to get people to subscribe to the Ancestry website.
AdvisoryHQ News team took an unbiased look into AncestryDNA kit reviews, how the service works, and how people answer the question, “Is ancestryDNA accurate?” to give you a full rundown of everything you need to know.
We’ll also give you a look at AncestryDNA Canada and a little background on Ancestry.com and where the company is based. When you get to the finish line, you should have a good idea whether this is your cup of tea or not before you buy an AncestryDNA test kit.
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AdvisoryHQ News AncestryDNA Test Reviews | About the Company
The company behind this DNA heritage test is Ancestry. A global leader in family genealogy and consumer genetic testing. The company began in 1983 publishing family history magazines and reference books.
Ancestry evolved as technology did and put up their popular website Ancestry.com in 1996, allowing people to search for their family history online. In 2012, AncestryDNA genetic ancestry testing was launched, testing the human genome at 700,000 markers.
The company is based in Lehi, Utah and has offices in Dublin, London, Muenchen (Germany), Sydney, and San Francisco. They had over $1 billion in revenue last year and have tested over 10 million people’s DNA.
How Does AncestryDNA Work?
You don’t have to worry about being punctured to do this DNA heritage test, it doesn’t use any blood. All it requires is a little saliva in a tube.
Once you receive the purchased kit (we’ll get into the cost in a moment), you enclose your sample in the prepaid envelope and mail it back to their lab. If you’re wondering, “Exactly how does AncestryDNA work?”, the DNA testing review goes like this:
- Purchase the AncestryDNA test in Canada, the US, or another country.
- You shouldn’t eat, drink, smoke, or chew gum 30 minutes before giving a sample.
- Use their saliva collection tube to provide a sample up to the black line.
- Replace the collector at the top with the blue liquid-filled cap.
- Tighten and allow the blue liquid to release, then shake.
- Mail back the AncestryDNA test sample in the pre-paid mailer.
- You’ll receive an email that your AncestryDNA results are ready to access on their site.
How long does the AncestryDNA test take?
The company says that the processing time for this DNA testing for ethnicity is 6 to 8 weeks. Some users report waiting slightly longer for their AncestryDNA results.
You do need to remember to activate the test on their website. They have some excellent videos that take you through the whole process.
What type of genetic ancestry testing does it cover?
In our AncestryDNA test review, we found that the test provides information about your ethnicity throughout 350 regions of the world. AncestryDNA results also identify potential relatives based upon DNA matching.
If you’re testing for Native American heritage from AncestryDNA Canada, US, or Mexico, the DNA testing for ethnicity can tell you if you have Native American ancestry, but AncestryDNA accuracy does not include the specific tribe.
If you want to know, “Are AncestryDNA tests accurate?”, we’ve got a section all about our research on AncestryDNA accuracy coming up later in this article.
AncestryDNA Test Review of Security
Once you send your DNA heritage test back, what happens to the results? Do you get put into a DNA database?
In AncestryDNA kit reviews, we found that the company stores samples securely according to industry standards. The results of your genetic ancestry testing are stored in a database without your name or any identifiable information.
Under the AncestryDNA privacy policy, you do have the ability to download your raw DNA data and request your DNA testing review and data be deleted from their database and your physical sample be destroyed.
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How Much Does AncestryDNA Cost?
If you’ve been intrigued to find out more about your heritage but were wondering, “Is AncestryDNA testing accurate?” or “How much does AncestryDNA cost?”, we’ve got that pricing information for you here.
The AncestryDNA Kit costs $99.00, not including tax or shipping. If you order additional kits, they are $89.00 each.
How much does AncestryDNA Kit shipping cost?
If you’re asking yourself, “Is AncestryDNA a scam that charges high shipping costs?” you’ll be happy to know that their shipping is reasonable. The rates below include shipping the kit to you and the return postage paid mailer for the sample.
- $9.95 standard shipping for 1st kit
- $4.95 standard shipping for each additional kit
- $24.95 expedited shipping for 1st kit
- $12.95 expedited shipping for each additional kit
Standard shipping delivers within 10 business days and expedited shipping delivers within 3 business days.
How much does AncestryDNA cost compared to 23andMe DNA test?
One of the other popular DNA heritage tests out there is 23andMe. If you’ve been considering DNA testing and wondering about AncestryDNA accuracy, you’ve probably run across this competitor that does DNA testing for ethnicity along with health screening.
23andMe offers two different types of tests, one is less than AncestryDNA testing and one costs more. They currently offer a sale price for an ancestry only service for $69 and ancestry and health service for $139 (not including tax or shipping).
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AncestryDNA Reviews | What Are People Saying about this DNA Heritage Test?
Most people are looking for some information about their roots and history when they review AncestryDNA testing. So a big question they have is, “Is AncestryDNA accurate?”.
Since AncestryDNA accuracy is the number one concern, we’re going to take a look at that separately. In this section, we’ll look at general AncestryDNA reviews about things like price and service.
Let’s start with a bird’s eye view of overall scores from AncestryDNA test reviews and rating sites.
AncestryDNA Test Reviews & Ratings:
- Amazon (3,376 AncestryDNA reviews) – 3.8 out of 5 stars
- PCMag – 4 out of 5 stars
- Top10DNATests (32 AncestryDNA reviews) – 3.5 out of 5 stars
- Trustpilot (4,127 AncestryDNA reviews) – 3 out of 5 stars
Now, let’s hear from people who’ve shared AncestryDNA test reviews online. We’ll begin with the positive and then hear from the negative AncestryDNA reviews.
How does AncestryDNA work compared to what they expected? What did they answer to the question, “Is AncestryDNA a scam?” Did they find long-lost relatives?
We’ll find out now!
AncestryDNA Reviews | The Positive
- One person that tried the test was thrilled to have found their biological father. They wrote in their AncestryDNA test review that their father wasn’t even aware of their birth and now they’re reconnected and talk every day.
- A reviewer that’s been doing DNA testing as a hobby for over a decade said they were pleased with their results and they got them back in just 4 weeks. In their AncestryDNA test review, they said they’d definitely recommend the service.
- One of the happy DNA testing reviews on Amazon credited Ancestry with helping them find their long-lost sister. They felt the AncestryDNA test was worth every penny.
- In a 5 star (out of 5) AncestryDNA review, the reviewer was very happy with the results. They said the best part was being able to download the raw DNA data and use that to find even more information on other online DNA search sites.
AncestryDNA Reviews | The Negative
- In an unhappy AncestryDNA kit review on Trustpilot, the reviewer thought the results were plausible but relative matching questionable. Both they and other relatives took the test but weren’t matched like they thought they would be.
- Lack of specificity was the complaint in a 1 star (out of 5) AncestryDNA kit review. They only found out they had ancestry in Western Europe, but nothing more specific. If asked, “Is AncestryDNA a scam?”, they would say, “Yes.”.
- A common complaint we found in AncestryDNA reviews was that they didn’t learn anything about their family history that they didn’t already know and they felt the genetic ancestry testing was a waste of time and money.
- A reviewer said in one of the AncestryDNA test reviews on Amazon that they waited months for the results. When they asked where their report was, they were told they hadn’t properly activated it. They thought the instructions were poor.
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What is the AncestryDNA Accuracy Like?
Are AncestryDNA tests accurate? That’s the main question people have when considering doing heritage DNA tests. Because if AncestryDNA accuracy isn’t decent, you could get incorrect information about your heritage.
So, how accurate is AncestryDNA test?
The company states that their testing is done through microarray-based autosomal DNA testing that surveys a person’s entire genome at over 700,000 locations. It also is gender neutral, unlike some DNA heritage tests that only look at the Y-chromosome.
In our AdvisoryHQ AncestryDNA review, we looked through multiple comments regarding AncestryDNA accuracy. We found that if asked, “Is AncestryDNA accurate?” most people would say that it was.
Many people credit the service with helping them find long-lost relatives or family they didn’t know they had. They’d say “extremely” if asked, “How accurate is the AncestryDNA test?”.
Is AncestryDNA Testing Accurate or Does it Lack Detail?
In negative AncestryDNA test reviews that would probably answer “No” if asked “Are AncestryDNA tests accurate?” we found it was more about the detail.
The detail provided in the genetic test is different than AncestryDNA accuracy. The test can be accurate telling you that you have East Asian heritage, but lack detail about the exact country.
The biggest complaints we found on details were for:
- Western Europe (but not the country)
- Native American (but not the tribe)
- East Asia (but not the country)
- Middle East (but not the region)
In reviewing details on AncestryDNA accuracy on their site we found that the company does disclose that the testing results may not give exact countries for some regions of the world and that it doesn’t delineate Native American tribes.
How to Get More DNA Details?
So, is AncestryDNA accurate? We found that it is accurate, but might not give you all the information you’re looking for.
If you want to get more details than AncestryDNA results provide, we recommend downloading your raw DNA data and seeking out websites that can give you more information from them, such as Promethease (which was recommended by one AncestryDNA reviewer).
AncestryDNA Canada
If you’re looking for an AncestryDNA test in Canada, you won’t be disappointed. You can order online from AncestryDNA Canada as easily as you can from the US, UK & Ireland, and Australia. (Other countries can also order by contacting the site.)
Just like in Mexico and the US, if you’re looking for Native American decent details from an AncestryDNA test Canada, you’re not going to find out which specific tribe you’re connected to, just the general knowledge that you have Native American heritage.
AncestryDNA Reviews | Are Health Details Included?
AncestryDNA tests only return results on your genetic heritage, they do not give you details on your health, such as genetic health risks or carrier status for specific genes.
You have two options if you’d like to also know about your health from a DNA heritage test:
- You can try another test service that offers health screening, like 23andMe.
- You can download your AncestryDNA raw DNA and upload it to a site that returns health information.
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AdvisoryHQ’s AncestryDNA Reviews Conclusion
We found in our AncestryDNA review that the strength of this service lies in their core offering, which is tracing your family tree and matching you to relatives both from this century and those past.
Are you adopted and want to find genetic relatives you might have out there? Don’t know much about your heritage and want to know where you came from? Are you really related to that 16th century English Prince like your great-grandma always told you?
These are great reasons to use this service and where AncestryDNA accuracy shines, especially when you use your results in combination with their Ancestry.com family tree service.
Multiple people that have given AncestryDNA test reviews online say the service is priceless for the family connections it’s made possible and insight it’s given them into their roots.
Those that aren’t quite as pleased with the AncestryDNA accuracy of their results, complain about it not matching them with relatives (which could be due to lack of samples in their database), and not getting enough detail about the exact country or region they’re from.
We found that the ability to download your raw data is a huge plus. It puts the ability to get more details from your DNA in your hands. You can even get the health information that’s not included in AncestryDNA results, but it might cost you extra.
Overall, AncestryDNA accuracy is excellent along with the ease of use of the service. You just need to keep in mind the report detail limitations so you don’t end up feeling disappointed. You might just find a new family member or at least a little more information about your personal story.
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Image sources:
- https://www.ancestry.com/dna/
- https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Activating-your-AncestryDNA-Test-1460090082993-3126
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